Alarm-clock.



W. E. PORTER.

ALARM CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED I'EB.26, 1910.

Patented May 3, 1910.

sists m an alar rod 3 passing from rear to ront throu UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

WILSON E. PORTER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO NEW HAVEN CLOCKCOMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

ALARM-CLOCK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILSON E. PORTER, a

citizen of the United States residing at New Haven, in the county of ewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Alarm-Clocks; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the characters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, in a Figure 1 a view in front elevation of an alarm-clockmovement constructed in accordance with my invention, the conical detentcarried by the manual push-rod being shown as engaged with thedetent-finger of the letofi' lever. Fig. 2a broken view of the clockpartly in plan and partly in horizontal section, this view, which is onan enlarged scale,- also showing the detent as engaged with thedetent-fingerof the releasing-lever. Fig. 3 a broken view in verticalsection on the line a b of Fig. 2, showing in particular the mounting'ofthe operating-cone upon the alarm-cam wheel. view partly in plan andpartly in horizontal section, showing the manual push-rod in its retiredosition in which it leaves the alarmmechanism free to sound'the alarm.

M invention relates to an improvement in-a arm-clocks of that class inwhich the alarm-spring is revented from. running down by the stopplng ofthe alarm-mechanism of the clock by the user thereof, and whichcontinue, without resetting the alarm,

to be sounded at the same hour every dayuntil the clock needsre-winding, the-object of my present invention being tosimplify, andhence cheapen and make more reliable, the alarm-mechanism of clocks ofthis class as well as to lessen the amount of power required tooperatethe alarm-mechanism.

With these efimds in view my invention con- '-olock having certaindetails of construction and combinations of arts as will be hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown, I employ a-cglindricalstop-plug 2 e rear and front movement-plates- 4 an 5, in which it issupported. The said rod pro- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 26, 1910. Serial No. 546,223.

Fig. 4 a broken detail Patented May 3, 1916.

jects rearward through a hole 6 in the removable disk-shaped sheet-metalback 7 of the clock-case and also through a hole 8 in theshallow flangedhell 9 which is arranged concentrically with the said back -7 and partlyentered into the same as shown in Flg. 3. At its extreme rear end therod 3 1s provided with a finger-button 10 by means against the tensionof a spring 11 encircling its rear portion and interposed between-therear face of the rear movement-plate et andfa collar 12 mounted upon therod, the spring .of which it is pushed from rear to frontm':

exerting a constant effort to move the rod from -front to rear into itsretired position in Wl'llCll it is shown in Fig. 4:. The said stop-plug2 coacts with a stop-wire 13 reaching over and riding upon it andcarried by a verge-arbor 14 which also carries the verge L:

15, the hammer-wire 16 of the hammer 17, and the cut-out wire 18 whichcoacts with the cut out lever, not shown, but of usual form, arrangementand operation. When the rod 3 is pushed from rear to front against thetension of its spring 11, the stopwire 13 rides up over the forward endof the plug 2 and rests upon the cylindrical .periphery thereof, wherebythe verge-arbor 1 4 is sufliciently rocked to lock the verge 15 into theescapement-wheel 19, and, so arrest the running of the alarm-train whichmay beef any approved construction. Thus far my improved mechanismfollows the mechanism shown and described in my "'2- concurrentlypending application filed J anuary 3, 1910, and serially numbered536,167.

At its projecting forwardend, the pushrod is furnished with aconical-detent-20 for coaction with the detent-finger 21 of a relativelylon let-ofi' lever 22 hung upon 'a stud 23 entering the frontmovement-plate 5. A helical spring 24 connected withthe free end of thislever exerts a constant effort to hold its upper edge in engagement withan operating-cone 25 projectin from the inner face of analarm-cam whee26 mounted upon the alarm-setting shaft 27 so as'to be rotatably andlongitudinally movable thereupon.- The cone 25 extends forward, throughthe said wheel 26 and is shaped to form an alarm-cam 28 the edge ofwhlch coacts in the usual manner with an operatingpin 29 mounted in theshaft'27 and located directly back of .an alarm-setting wheel 30rigidly'fixed upon the extreme forward er" of the shaft 27 and meshinginto a pinion 31 carrying an alarm hand which 1s not shown. but whichsweeps over the clockla're, also not shown, the said pinion'31 beingmounted so as to turn loosely upon the hourhaud socket or sleeve 33which carries at its rear end the hour-wheel 34; which meshes into adial-pinion 35 carried by a dial-wheel 36 driven in the usual manner.The socket or sleeve carries at a point in front of the hour-wheel 34, awide pinion 37 meshing into and driving the alarm-cam wheel 26.

'A helical spring 38 interposed between the cam 25 and the front face ofthe front movement-plate 5, exerts a constant effort to hold the edge ofthe alarm-cam 28 in engagement with its operating-pin 29 and assists inpushing the said cone forward on the shaft 2? when the pin 29 drops intothe drop of the cam 28.

As the alarm-cam wheel 26 is driven by the time-train, it is graduallyforced from front to rear by the coaction ofthe alarmcam 28 with the pin29, whereby the cone i5 coacts with the upper edge of the lever 22 andgradually depresses the same against the tension of the sprin I 24, withthe effect of gradually moving tie'detent-finger 21 downward away fromthe conical detent 20 which when it is released by the said arm 21 tothe action of the spring 11 tending to pull the push-rod 3 from front torear, will have "the upper portion of its inner face engaged by ayielding warning-wire 39 mounted in a stud 40 carried by the lever 22,the said stud being furnished with a bincL ing-screw 41 by means ofwhich the wire 3'.) is held in place and the said wire 39 passingoutward through a vertical slot 42 formed in an integral arm 43 bentforward at-a right angle from the plane of the lever 22 and carrying thesaid finger 21 which is made in the same piece with it.- After thedetent 20 has been engaged with the warning-wire 39 it will be heldthereby until the drop of the alarm-cam 28 is brought by the action ofthe time'train into registration with the pin 29, whereupon the spring38 in'nncdiately operates to push the operating cone 25 forward a wayfrom the upper'edge of the lever 22 which is then lifted by the spring24 and the warning-wire 39 disengaged from the detent 20. The spring 11now asserts itself to quickly retire the pushrod 3, whereby thestop-plug 2 is moved rearward out of range of the stop wire 13 which isnow released so as to permit the alarm-1nechanism to start up and soundthe alarnn'which will continue to be sounded until the user of thecloclc gets up and manually ushcs the rod 3 forward so as to again b ockthe vibration of the arm 13 by moi ing the plug 2 under it. As the rodis pushed forward the detent 20 at its forward end is retingaged withthe \finger 21 of the lever 22, whereby its alarm-train is cut out ofaction as it were.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the detent 20 is releascdfronithe. finger zl -by the progressive action of the cone 2) and from the.warning-wire 39 by the sudden action of the spring 38 in pushing thecone 25, and hence the alarm-cam wheel 26 and alarm-cam 28, suddenlyforward when the drop of the cam 28 is brought into registration withthe pin '29. In other words, the alarm is not finally let oil by theprogressive inward movement of the cone 2'5 but by the sudden outwarddisplacement thereof.

Normally the detent 20' will coact with the finger 21 when thepush-rod 3is manually pushed forward for stopping the alarm. In case, however, thesounding of the alarm should take place when the lever 22 has beendepressed by the cone 25 so far as to carry the arm 21 below the detent20, the warning-wire 39 will spring to permit the detent to be snappedover it, as it were. If the warning-wire 39 were not present for thispurpose, and not made yielding, in certain positions of the lever 22 thesounding of the alarm could not be stopped. There'- fore the wire 39while always discharging its own proper warning function, at certaintimes also discharges the initial detent function of the finger 21 ofthe lever 22.

After the alarm has sounded and roused the sleeper, he must get up andgo to the clock and press the finger-button l0 and move the push-rod 3from rear to front, and so stop the alarm-train which would beimmediately started again by the action of the spring 11 in retiring therod 3 and hence the plug 2, if itwere not for the fact that when the rodis pushed forward, its conical detent 20 will ordinarily be caught andthe rod held at the limit of its forward excursion, by the finger 21 ofthe lever 22, which will be momentarily pushed aside for this couplingengagement. The lever 22 now operates for a longer or shorter timeaccording to details of construction, to hold the push-rod 3 in its,operative position as described. Meanwhile the time-train is graduallydepressing the lever 22 preparatory to releasing the conical detent 20from its finger 21. When that happens the detent 20 under the influenceof the spring 1-1 drops, as it were, from the finger 21 to thewarning-wire 39, whereby the rod 3 is still prevented from moving fromfront to rear suilicicntly to clear the plug 2 from the arm 13. hentwenty four full hours since the last sounding of the alarm haveexpired, the drop of the alarm-ca1n 28 will be brought into registrationwith the pin 29, leaving the helical spring 28 free to act to suddenlymove the cone 25 forward. As the cone moves forward the lever 22 islifted by the spring 24 and the detent 20 is released from thewarning-Wire 39, leaving the rod 3 free to be retracted by its spring11, whereby the plug 2 is cleare from the wire 13 so as to permit thealarm to be again sounded. It will thus be seen that the rod 3 isnormally held in one or the other of its two forward positions and onlymoves to the limit of its rearward excursion once in twenty-four hoursand then remains in that position, under ordinary circumstances, onlyduring the brief interval of the sounding of an alarm.

It will now be understood that the invention of my present applicationis distinguished from theinvention of my concurrently pendingapplication filed January 3, 1910, and serially numbered 536,167, by thefact that whereas in theclock of the said co-pending application theoperatingcone is secured to a plate fastened at one end to a flat springsecured to the front movement-plate, in my present construction, thecorresponding operating-cone is carried by the alarm-cam Wheel of thealarm-mechanism.

I claim 1. In an alarm-clock, the combination with the time-mechanismthereof, of an alarmmechanism including a stop-wire, a manually operablepush-rod, a stop-plug mounted thereupon for eoaction with the stop- Wirein arresting the alarm-mechanism, a detent on the push-rod, a levercoacting with the detent for holding the push-rod in its operatingposition, and a cone carried by the alarm cam of the alarm-mechanism andcoacting with the lever for automatically releasing the said detent andhence the pushrod, preparatory to sounding the alarm.

2. In an alarm-clock, the combination with the time-mechanism thereof,of an alarmmechanism, a push-rod for stopping the alarm-mechanism, alever coacting with the push-rod for normally detaining the same in itsoperating position, and a laterally movable cone driven by thetime-train and coacting with the lever for moving the same to releasethe push-rod.

3. In an alarm-clock, the combination with the time-mechanism thereof,of an alarmmechanism, a push-rod for arresting. the alarm-mechanism, alever coacting with the push-rod, a Warning-wire carried by the saidlever and also coacl'ing with the push-rod, and a laterally movable conedriven by the time-train and coacting with the said lever for releasingthe same from the push-rod.

4. In an alarm-clock, the combination with the ti1ne-mechanis1n thereof,of an alarmlnechanism including a. stop wire, a manually operatedpush-rod, a stop-plug carried by the said rod and coacting with thestopwire for arresting the alarm-mechanism, a detent carried by thepush-rod, a lever coacting With the detent, a warning-Wire carried bythe said lever and also coacting with the detent, an alarm-settingshaft, an alarmcam wheel mounted thereupon, and a cone carried by thesaid alarm-cam Wheel and coacting with the edge of the lever which itoperates for releasing the detent from the said lever and from the saidWarning-Wire.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

WILSON E. PDRTER.

CLARA L. WEED.

